Easy Gazpacho (From Canned Tomatoes)

This easy gazpacho recipe uses canned tomatoes and takes just 5 minutes to make. This delicious chilled soup is adaptable and impressive.  My neat trick to tame the garlic and onion means you can enjoy all the flavour without overpowering anyone near who gets close! 

Easy Gazpacho

Gazpacho shouts of summer and this easy light version is perfect for the warmer days; cool, refreshing and delicious. I’ve got a neat trick that tames the raw garlic and onion so you still get the flavour, but won’t overpower the people around you!

This easy gazpacho recipe doesn’t need a fancy power blender or food processor. Make it in minutes with a simple basic stick blender. 

Gazpacho is best made with flavorful tomatoes at the peak of ripeness. Bland under-ripe fruit simply won’t cut it, so I’m using good tinned tomatoes instead. As always when using canned tomatoes, I don’t recommend buying a budget brand. You don’t need the most expensive, but if you spend a few pence more on a good quality brand, it makes a big difference. 

What is Gazpacho?

Gazpacho is an ancient dish from Andalusia, invented long before Europeans discovered tomatoes. Originally made by the Romans from bread, olive oil, olives and water, the tomatoes and peppers were added later. There are now many variations, but I love the classic tomato version. 

Chilled Soup – the Perfect Summer Lunchtime Dish

Cold soups make a perfect summer lunchtime dish. Refreshing and flavourful, traditional soups such as gazpacho, borscht and vichyssoise are packed with delicious vegetable flavours and one of my favourite ways to eat extra vegetables during the summer. 

Why You Will Love My Gazpacho 

• This gazpacho recipe is so EASY! 
• It uses canned tomatoes as the main ingredient – a store cupboard staple. 
• It takes minutes to make, and you can use a cheap stick blender to mix it. There’s no need for fancy food processors or power jug blenders. 
• I’ve tamed the garlic and onion so you can enjoy your gazpacho while still smelling sweet.  

Should I Add Bread? 

Authentic Spanish gazpacho contains bread, but then it doesn’t use canned tomatoes. I haven’t included it. If you have some stale rustic bread or sourdough that needs using up, then go on and add it to your soup. Tear into bite-sized pieces and soak in the canned tomatoes for half an hour before you blend in the other ingredients. Don’t use cheap white sliced bread, though. It won’t improve the soup at all. 

Bread in Soups

Across Mediterranean countries, there is a tradition of adding old bread to soup. This is peasant cookery at its best, wasting nothing and making sumptuous dishes from humble ingredients. In Italy the bread and tomato soup is pappa al pomodoro. It is served warm; the 2 day old bread and tomatoes are heated 3 times so the bread breaks down to thicken and add an almost creamy texture to the soup.   

In Spain, the bread and tomato soup is salmorejo, a slimmed down gazpacho made with garlic, vinegar, olive oil, tomatoes and bread, served chilled. 

Chunky or Smooth? 

It entirely depends on your taste, and how good your blender is!  I made this with an everyday standard stick or immersion blender. Most of us don’t have high-end blenders and food processors and you don’t need them.  

If you like your soup chunkier, reserve some of the cucumber and red pepper and throw it in at the end, or scoop some out before you whizz in the oil.  

How to Make Easy Gazpacho

Collect the ingredients. Choose good tinned tomatoes. It’s best to use pepper and cucumber straight from the fridge, and on an especially hot day, chill the canned tomatoes as well.

Step One – Dice the onion and garlic, and then transfer to a sieve. Set the sieve over your sink and pour a kettle of boiling water over the veg. This removes the strongest smells but keeps most of the flavour. The aromas won’t linger on you – far more sociable!

Step Two – While the onion drains, roughly cut the peppers and cucumber into chunks.

Step Three – Save a tablespoonful each of onion, pepper and cucumber. Place the remaining onions, peppers, cucumber in a bowl. Add the canned tomatoes.

Step Four – Blitz until smooth. (You can use a stick blender, or a jug blender or food processor if you have one.)

Step Five – Add the lemon juice, sherry vinegar, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Step Six – Blitz again until the oil has emulsified. The soup should be smooth with a creamy texture, and the colour should get a bit lighter. Taste, and adjust seasoning.

Finally, add the vegetables that you saved earlier. Blitz briefly. Serve and enjoy!

Hints, Tips and Variations 

• Like nearly every soup this easy gazpacho recipe is better if you make it at least an hour or two in advance. It is good for up to 24 hours in the fridge. 
• You don’t need an expensive blender. An everyday basic stick blender will do the trick. Just be sure to submerge the blade fully before you blend the soup. 
• Buy better quality canned tomatoes!  Not the most expensive, but use a version with a good flavour. You don’t want watery tomatoes. 
• Roasted jarred peppers add another layer of flavour. 
• We love this easy gazpacho with a handful of chopped herbs for garnish. Fresh coriander (cilantro) is especially good. I know it isn’t authentic, but is is delicious. Add a dash of chilli sauce too, if you like it. 
• Garnish this soup any way you like it – try a little manchego, some iberico ham or hard-boiled eggs if you like. 

This is fantastic with a slice of frittata or Spanish omelette, and if you wanted to up the garlic add a blob of allioli. 

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4.6 from 5 votes

Easy Gazpacho from Canned Tomatoes

This easy gazpacho recipe uses canned tomatoes and takes just 5 minutes to make. This delicious chilled soup is adaptable and impressive.  My neat trick to tame the garlic and onion means you can enjoy all the flavour without overpowering anyone near who gets close! 

Servings: 4 bowls

Author: Helen Best-Shaw

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time0 mins

Ingredients

Basic Ingredients

• 1/2 onion (peeled & chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (peeled & chopped)
• 800 g canned tomatoes (reasonable quality or passata)
• 1/2 cucumber (roughly diced)
• 1 red pepper (seeds & membrane discarded, diced)
• 4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 lemon (juiced)
• 1 tbs sherry vinegar (or any white vinegar)

Optional Extras / Substitutions

• Whizz these into the soup or use for garnish
• salad onions
• 1 tbs dry sherry (in place of the vinegar)
• 2 tbs chopped herbs - basil, parsley, or coriander / cilantro
• dash chilli sauce
• 1 tsp sugar (to sweeten if needed)
• 2 slices rustic bread or sourdough (torn into pieces )
• 1 hard boiled egg (chopped)
• 1 slice Iberico ham (chopped into pieces)
• Manchego or other hard cheese (shavings)

Instructions

• Optional – blanch the onions and garlic to keep the flavour, but remove much of the fierceness.

  Put the chopped onion and garlic in a sieve and pour a kettle of boiling water over them.
• Prepare the red pepper and cucumber, by dicing roughly. Reserve a spoonful of each for the garnish and to add extra texture if desired.
• Place the remaining canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, red pepper and cucumber in a bowl and whizz with an immersion or stick blender (or use a jug blender or food processor).
• Add the lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil and generously season with pepper & salt. Whizz again until all the oil is emulsified.

  Check the seasoning and add more if needed.
• Quickly whizz in the reserved ingredients for a chunkier soup.
• Chill for several hours before garnishing and serving. Eat within 24 hours.

Notes

Nutritional Information

• This recipe is 7 Weight Watchers Smart Points per portion 

• Please note that the nutrition information provided below is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

• Unless stated otherwise cup conversions have been made with an online tool. For accuracy please check with your favoured conversion tool. We recommend buying inexpensive digital kitchen scales.

Nutrition Facts

Easy Gazpacho from Canned Tomatoes

Amount Per Serving

Calories 214 Calories from Fat 135

% Daily Value*

Fat 15g23%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Sodium 268mg12%

Potassium 738mg21%

Carbohydrates 20g7%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 12g13%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 1388IU28%

Vitamin C 66mg80%

Calcium 83mg8%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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